Combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings



Mwah 10,1925. d 1,529,385

A.y -J. ANDERSON.

COMBINEDIHOLDING AND MQUNTING DEVICE FOR MAINSPRINGS Filed July 5. 1923 IN VENTOR .WITNESSES H-CINDz-:zsor

A TTORNE YS Fatented Mar. l()9 1925a j j...

UNITED STATES ANTON J. ANDERSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

COMBINED HOLDING AND MOUNTING DEVICE FOR MAINSPRINGS.

Application lcd July 3,

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON J. ANDERSON, a subject of the King of Sweden, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Combined I-Iolding and Mounting Device for Mainsprings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates generally to improvements in article carriers, and has particular reference to a combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings used in watches and the like.

It has heretofore been customary to provide various forms of holders inv the nature of rings or casings in which the springs are originally placed and from which the same must be extracted before mounting the springs in the usual barrels forming a part of the mechanism of a timepiece. Two methods of thus mounting the spring have usually been followed. One is to rewind the spring by means of a winder, after which it is inserted into the barrel, and the other is to attach one end of the spring in the barrel and then by the use of the thumb gradually rewind the spring and at the same time force each convolution into the barrel. Both of these methods have been open to the objection that considerable time is involved in getting the spring into proper position and the last mentioned method has been found to have an injurious eect on the spring and consequently the time keeping qualities of a watch or clock` Other mainspring holders have been designed for the purpose of facilitating the mounting of the spring in the barrel, but the construction of such holders is such as to make it necessary to eject the spring from the holder into the barrel before one end of the spring is fastened or hooked in position in said barrel. Consequently the spring is seldom properly placed after its insertion into the barrel and must be turned to its proper position to secure one of its ends. This has been found to be a diflicult operation inasmuch as the tension of the spring against the side of the barrel, after being released, is such as to render it hard to turn the spring to properly seat the same.

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above diiiiculties by provid- Serial No. 649,324. y

ing a device which will form an effective holder for the mainspring and which is so constructed as to facilitate the insertion or mounting of the spring in the barrel after one end of the spring has been secured in position in said barrel.

Another object is to provide a device of the above character, which is exceedingly simple in construction, and which can be manufactured at such a low cost as not to make its use prohibitive.

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the following detail description, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, which illustrates preferred embodiments of the inventive idea.

In the drawing- Figure l is a plan view of the device showing a mainspring mounted therein;

Figure 2 is a perspective view, partly broken away and shown in section, illustrating the manner of mounting one forni of spring in position in a barrel;

Figure 3 is a similar view showing the device as used in connection with a different form of spring and barrel; and

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view through the device in its operative position, illustrating a slightly different form'of the invention.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the numeral l indicates a barrel of known construction forming the part of the: mechanism of a timepiece in which the mainspring 5 is designed to be mounted. In the form of barrel and spring shown in Figure 2, the latter is provided upon one end thereof with a pair of lateral projections or lugs 6, one of which is designedto engage in an opening 7 formed in the bottom of the barrel to secure the mainspring in operative position in the well known manner. Although the invention is shown and described in connection with a mainspring it is obvious that the device may be utilized in holding other forms of coiled springs. v

The holding and mounting device, which comprises the essential features of the invention, and which is utilized to maintain the spring in coiled position after the same has been placed on the market, is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 as comprising a body formed of a substantially dat crescent shaped plate 8 made of any suitable material, such l as aluminum. The `plate isprovided with an eccentrically disposed opening 9 of a diameter less'tha-n that of the open end of the barrel 4 so that when the device is employed for mounting the Aspring in the bar- 'rel the same may be rested upon the pe- A is of greater width than the thickness of indicated.

the plate and at the point of least width of said material the plat-e is further provided with a slot 10 communicating with the opening 9 and having its edges rounded as By forming the opening 9 eccentricallv, as shown, the plate has its greatest width at a point diametrically opposite the slot l0. This increase in width over the end portions of the plate imparts greater strength and rigidity thereto than if the opening were formed centrally and hence enables the device to better withstand the expansive pressure of the coil spring which has a tendency to .force the ends of the device apart.

n The spring 5 is first coiled and then placed within the opening 9 and allowed to eX- pand until the outer convolution thereof engages the edge of the opening with the outer extremity 11 of the spring projecting outwardly through the slot 10 and out of Contact with the material forming the opposite edge o-f said slot, as shown in Figure 1. When the spring, which is of greater width than the thickness of the plate, is mounted in the device the same is so disposed thatl portions thereof will project beyond opposite faces of the plate so that the likelihood of the spring becoming accidentally disengaged from the device will be minimized. By making the width of the plate between the opening and outer edge thereof relatively great as compared to the thickness of said plate, it will be obvious that the material between said opening and the outer edge of the plate forms effective gripping surfaces by means of which the "device may be readily handled when applying the same in position on the barrel 4 and mounting the spring in place in said barrel.

Contrary to' the usual method of first inserting the spring into a barrel and thereafter securing one end ofthe spring, as previously pointed out, the present invention contemplates the mounting ofthe spring by first securing the end of the spring inthe barreland `thereafter projecting the spring bodily from the holder into the barrel. This novel `method of mounting the spring is ymade .possible by the formation ofthe plate andthe slot 10 therein-which permits of a vportion ofthe extremity 11 projecting out- .,wardly-from the plate. Y When the spring Als-fln-itsnormalposition in the device the portion 11 is disposed in the same plane with the remaining portion of the spring, but when it is desired to mount the spring in a ba-rrelsaid extremity 11 is first flexed transversely with respect to the remainder of the` spring,V as shownin Figures 2 and 3, and then bent inwardly toward the adjacent or outer convolution of the spring until one of the projections or lugsv 6 engages beneath the plate 8 at a point adjacent the slot 10. The portion 1 1 of the springmay be held in this position by a finge-r of the operator and the plate 8 then placed inposition on the barrel 4 as shown. this position the inner lug or projection 6 will engage the bottom of the barreland the barrel or plate 8 mayY then be turned until said lug engages in the opening 'i' formed in the bottom of the barrel. With the plate 8 securelyheld in position and the opening 9 therein being` Varrangedsubstantially concentric with the periphery of the barrel, the convolutions of the spring on the inner side of the plate will be disposed within the barrel. The operator; by lthen pressing inwardly upon the spring will vforce the same from the opening9 and into the barrel and as soonr as the springis disengaged from the plate the same will expand and engage the inner wall of the barrel and thus be properly positioned thereinl lt has been found in practice that` watchmakers or others experienced in mounting mainspringsrnay perform the operation of transferring the spring from the holding ldevice to the barrel in a very few seconds and in much quicker time than is occupied in mounting the springs in the usual and customary manner.

In Figure 3 a slightly different form of barrel is shown, which is also of usual construction, wherein the opening vin the bottom of the barrel is dispensed with and the inner wall thereof is provided at any convenient point with an inwardly extending locking projection 12 which is designed to engage in an opening 13 formed in the outer extremity of the coil spring, said opening being substituted for the lug 6. In mounting the spring in position with this construction the outer extremity thereof isV flexed, as previously described, whereupon the spring is inserted into the barrel to first engage the lug 12 in the opening 13 whereupon the remaining operation is as above set forth.

In the form of the invention shown in Figure 4 means are provided for securely maintaining the plate in position on thefopen vend of the barrel 4, while the spring is being the plate-islmounted in position onthe barrel' the edge thereofjwill engage in the groove as Isl shown. The side of the groove remote from the opening 9 is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane of the plate so as to impart sufficient Width to the groove -to enable it to be mounted upon barrels of dierent diameters. The plate, in this form of the invention, is provided with an opening l5 similar to the opening 9 for receiving the coil spring and in other respects is of precisely the same construction as that previously described in connection with the other figures of the drawing.

It Will thus be seen from the foregoing description that the invention provides a simple and effective device for holding and mounting` a mainspring which may replace known devices, such as the Winders, which are most commonly used.

Yhatis claimed is:

l. In a combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings, a body formed of a substantially flat sheet of material having an opening therein for receiving a coiled spring, and a slot communicating with said opening and through one end of which one extremity of said spring is extended in spaced relation to the material forming the other end of said slot to permit of said extremity being flexed and engaged with one face of said body preparatory to securing said extremity of the spring in a barrel and thereafter inserting ltOhei spring bodily into said barrel from the 2. In a combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings, a body formed of a substantially fiat sheet of material having an eccentrically disposed opening therein for receiving a coiled spring, and a slot communicating With said opening at a point adjacent the least Width of said body and through which slot one end of said spring is extended to permit of said end being flexed and engaged With one face of said body preparatory to securing one end of said spring in a barrel and thereafter inserting the spring bodily into said barrel.

3. In a combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings, a body including a substantially flat plate having an opening therein for receiving a coiled spring and having a slot communicating with said opening through which one end of said spring is extended, said plate also having a grove extending around said opening and contiguousV to the edge thereof for receiving one end of a barrel.

4. In a combined holding and mounting device for mainsprings, the combination of a holder having an opening and a slot leading therefrom, and a coiled spring in the opening of the holder and having one end extending out through one end of said slot in spaced relation to the material forming the other end of the slot.

ANTON J. ANDERSON. 

